Winthrop Included in International Sustainability Rankings

In the rankings Winthrop placed 203 out of 301 worldwide institutions and placed 42 out of the 50 U.S. colleges and universities on the list. Winthrop was the only South Carolina university included in the rankings. The world university rankings, now in their fourth year, help universities assess and compare campus sustainability efforts

International sustainability expert Annie Leonard speaks on stuff

Sponsored by the Campus Activities Council Convocations Committee, Leonard’s film and presentation on “stuff” will entertain and challenge

Fisheries and Aquaculture and Their Potential Roles in Development: An Assessment of the Current Evidence

Commissioned by the International Sustainability Unity, this report investigates a number of innovative solutions that have been developed to deal with five key challenges that are impeding progress in achieving sustainable fisheries: overcapacity; perverse subsidies; poor governance; lack of data; and by-catch and discards. These key challenges are interlinked and affect the sustainability of fisheries both directly as well as indirectly by undermining instances of good management. Through 22 case studies demonstrating good practice, we explore how these challenges have been addressed around the world and how these approaches might be scaled up and applied in other fisheries. Each case study draws on published material and interviews with key people involved in the fishery. The main report draws lessons from these case studies

Regulating Unconventional Oil and Gas Production: Towards an International Sustainability Framework

Many of the emerging literatures on unconventional oil and gas production have taken the form of arguing for and against its positive and negative impacts. Studies have taken the form of exploring how it could result in increased energy production, energy security, financial returns and profits to local entities, increased investments in priority sectors, and generation of local employment opprtunities. On the other side, there have been explorations of the costs of fracking to the environment, human health, long term sustainability and contamination of drill sites. Less attention have been paid to exploring the possibilities of an International framework through which we could achieve a win-win scenario, i.e maximizing the economic potentials of unconventional oil and gas by reducing the environmental side effects. This paper discusses an International framework built on the theory of sustainable development, through which the environmental concerns associated with unconventional oil and gas production can be addressed

Regulating Unconventional Oil and Gas Production: Towards an International Sustainability Framework

Many of the emerging literatures on unconventional oil and gas production have taken the form of arguing for and against its positive and negative impacts. Studies have taken the form of exploring how it could result in increased energy production, energy security, financial returns and profits to local entities, increased investments in priority sectors, and generation of local employment opprtunities. On the other side, there have been explorations of the costs of fracking to the environment, human health, long term sustainability and contamination of drill sites. Less attention have been paid to exploring the possibilities of an international framework through which we could achieve a win-win scenario, i.e maximizing the economic potentials of unconventional oil and gas by reducing the environmental side effects. This paper discusses an international framework built on the theory of sustainable development, through which the environmental concerns associated with unconventional oil and gas production can be addressed

International Sustainability Trends in Construction and Potential Applications in the American Market

The construction industry evolves everyday as it attempts to stay up to date on current technologies, meet the needs of consumers, and take action on the ever-pressing topic of sustainability. Sustainability is one of the main ways the industry continues to advance. The United States is one of the world leaders in sustainable construction, however with limited research and restrained interest there is only so much progress that can be made when solely relying on domestic resources. By studying and collaborating with foreign construction institutions, the American construction industry has the potential to improve its sustainability performance significantly. By performing case studies on specific firms and projects in a variety of international markets, East Asia, Europe, and Australia, the goal is to highlight international sustainable building methods that have proven to be successful and analyze the feasibility of implementing these methods in the American market. These case studies, along with a qualitative survey involving several US construction firms’ sustainability commitments, will identify how the American construction industry currently excels, and where improvements can be made to ensure future achievements

A review of an international sustainability standard (GlobalGAP) and its local replica (MyGAP)

In light of growing concerns about sustainable development, international sustainability standards are prevalent and are replicated by local governments to form country-specific sustainability standards. A consensus has been reached that local sustainability standards can be considered to underperform in view of their limited adoption. Supplementing the current literature, this study hypothesizes additional explanations of this phenomenon through a review of both the GlobalGAP (international) and Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (MyGAP) standards. Through content analysis, the findings indicate that MyGAP provides a weak institutional framework and market opportunity structure. In addition, since it lacks transparency and accountability, its credibility is questionable. Although it is not clear whether such a credibility issue has a direct impact on the local market, sustainable produce is neither differentiated nor rewarded through premiums. The GlobalGAP standard was found to be an exemplar, and potential improvements are suggested to help support local sustainability standards